His impact on the American music scene has been profound: he helped shape the folk revival in the 1960s and the renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists. His early recordings introduced the world to the work of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor. In more recent years, his Club 47 concerts have brought artists such as Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin to wider audiences when they were just beginning to build their own reputations.

A gifted musician and performer, his shows offer a musical celebration—a journey into the tradition and spectrum of what music has been, can be, and will become. His distinctive guitar style, wry humor and warm, expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with the rib-aching laughter of terrific story-telling, the sweet melancholy of ballads and the passion of gritty blues.

In 1999, Columbia/Legacy released a Tom Rush retrospective album that covers his recorded musical history from 1962 to the present, including tracks recorded for Columbia, Elektra, Prestige and his independent years. Entitled The Very Best of Tom Rush: No Regrets, the 17-track compilation includes as a bonus a brand-new Tom Rush composition, "River Song," which features vocal contributions from Grammy winners Shawn Colvin and Marc Cohn. His voice has grown even richer and more melodic with training, and his music, like a fine wine, has matured and ripened in the blending of traditional and modern influences. He continues doing what he loves, and what audiences love him for: writing and playing—passionately, tenderly—knitting together the musical traditions and talents of our times.